UMBC Sports Blog

On September 30, 2009 three year assistant Rob Cross left UMBC to take a job as the assistant head coach at Harvard, specializing in offense, an area that UMBC has done very well in the last few years. With the open position Don Zimmerman went on a search for a replacement and today he found on- former Retriever attack Andy Gallagher, who will begin on Nov. 9, 2009.

Since August 2008 Gallagher has been serving as the Director of Student Activities and assistant boys’ lacrosse coach at DeMathan Catholic High School, his alma mater.

While at UMBC Gallagher came back from ACL tears in his freshman and sophomore seasons to be named an All-American for his senior year in 2007, which was the season he led UMBC to it’s first-ever NCAA tournament win after scoring 35 goals and 51 points that year.

He has scored 146 points in his career, good for 11th all-time at UMBC. In 2005 as a sophomore he was named first-team All-America East, and was named to the second-team in 2007.

Release From UMBC Athletics:

UMBC head men’s lacrosse coach Don Zimmerman and his staff are pleased to welcome 19 newcomers to the Retrievers’ program for the fall of 2009. The largest incoming class in UMBC’s Division I history includes 18 freshmen and one transfer and is comprised of a dozen attackmen/midfielders, six defensemen/long-stick midfielders and one goalkeeper.

“We are excited to have this group of newcomers join the UMBC community,” Coach Zimmerman said. “In addition to providing the program with additional depth, these players have exhibited the strong character and work ethic we believe is the trademark of Retriever lacrosse.”

The Retrievers will compete in a pair of fall tournaments in October. On Saturday, Oct. 10, UMBC will take part in the Third Annual Nick Colleluori Classic in Folsom, Pa, facing Hofstra at 3:00 p.m. and Villanova at 5:00 p.m. Each year the HEADstrong Foundation hosts this lacrosse tournament with all proceeds going towards blood cancer research.

The following Saturday, Oct. 17, Coach Zimmerman’s team will compete in the 12^th Annual Lacrosse for Leukemia Fall Invitational Tournament at Cedar Lane Park in Bel Air, Md. The Retrievers face St. John’s (12:50 p.m.) and Air Force (2:30 p.m.) . Sponsored by Price Modern, Lacrosse for Leukemia showcases top NCAA lacrosse teams while raising funds to further The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

A Glance at the Newcomers

David Brown (M/A, 5-8, 165 lbs., Coopersburg, PA/The Hill School) Brown was named to the Mid-Atlantic Prep League First-Team in his senior year. The four-year varsity starter scored was a career-best 17 goals in the 2008 season.

Adam Cohen (G, 5-7, 170 lbs., Arnold, Md./The Severn School) Cohen was ranked as of the top 15 incoming goalkeepers in Inside lacrosse. A 2009 Ensign C. Markland Kelly award finalist posted a sizzling 68% save percentage in his senior campaign for the Admirals and earned Second-Team All-County honors. Cohen also competed in the 2008 Under Armour game for underclassmen.

Nick Doub (M, 5-10, 170 lbs., Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) Doub scored 20 goals and added 40 assists and earned Capital Gazette First-Team All-County honors in 2009. He was the Saints’ team captain and named their “Unsung Hero” last spring. Doub was recently listed amongst Inside Lacrosse’s top incoming 40 attackmen.

Matt Gregoire (A, 6-2, 180 lbs., Crofton, Md./South River) Gregoire led the Seahawks to a 4A/3A state championship in 2009, scoring five goals in the title game. He was selected to the First-Team All-County in both his junior and senior seasons and was a Washington Post Second-Team All-Metro honoree  after amassing 46 goals and 16 assists last spring. Gregoire was recently listed amongst Inside Lacrosse’s top incoming 40 attackmen.

Jamie Grimm (LSM, 5-9,200 lbs., Black River, N.Y./Carthage Central) Grimm was named to the Frontier All- League team in all four years of varsity lacrosse for the Comets. Also a two-year letterwinner and Scholar-Athlete in football, he helped lead the team to the state championship game in his junior campaign. Jamie is the younger brother of 2009 America East All-Rookie team member and Retriever attackman Rob Grimm.

Riley Hansen (D, 6-1, 185 lbs., Annapolis, Md./The Salisbury School) As a senior, Hansen received the Salisbury School’s Corkery Medal, which goes to a senior that participates in three sports (lacrosse, cross country, and basketball). He has competed in the Maryland Freestate Top 44 game and the Under Armour game for underclassmen. His older brother, Pat, lettered in lacrosse at Ohio State  and Stevenson.

Scott Hopmann (M, 5-11, 165 lbs.,Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) Hopmann scored 20 goals and added 16 assists for the fifth-ranked (Inside Lacrosse) Saints in 2009. His best effort was a four-goal, five-point effort against St. Paul’s.  His older brother, Alex, graduated from UMBC in 2009 and earned All-America honors as a senior midfielder.

Joseph Impallaria (M, 5-8 175 lbs., Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall College) Impallaria won the Calvert Hall Ground Ball Award in 2007, 2008, and 2009, recording 305 ground balls in that span. He won 471 face-offs and maintained a 73% face-off winning percentage from 2007-09. His father, Joseph J. Impallaria, Jr., played lacrosse at the former Western Maryland College (McDaniel College) from 1979-82 and has served three tours of duty in Iraq.

Scott Jones (A, 6-4, 225 lbs., Port Moody, B.C./Terry Fox) Jones was selected as a 2009 Junior A British Columbia First-Team All-Star. He scored 44 goals and added 46 assists in 21 games for the Port Coquitlam Saints last season. Jones’ older brother, Jeff Ratcliffe, lettered in lacrosse from 1997-2000 at UMBC and is currently tenth on the all-time list with 104 goals scored.

Casey Lasda (A/M, 5-9 165 lbs., Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) Lasda was selected to the OHSL Section 3 First-Team All-League in 2008 and again in 2009. He earned Honorable Mention All-CNY honors in 2008 and 2009 and played on the Central team in the 2008 Empire State Games. Lasda was recently listed amongst Inside Lacrosse’s top incoming 40 attackmen.

Neill Lewnes (M, 5-7, 160 lbs, Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) Lewnes scored 11 goals, added 14 assists, corralled a team-best 108 ground balls and won 63 percent of his draws for St. Mary’s.  He was selected to the First-Team All-County and All-MIAA team in 2009. Lewnes was the team’s Most Valuable Player and its team captain and the All-County tailback, who rushed for over 1,200 yards,  also captained the Saints’ football team in 2008.

Joe Lustgarten (A, 5-10, 150 lbs, Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River)  In prep career, Lustgarten scored 105 goals and added 149 assists, including a senior campaign which featured 33 goals and had 43 helpers. He earned All-America honors from the state of New York (Suffolk County) in 2009. Lustgarten was three- time All Suffolk County Selection and a three-time All-Division selection. As a sophomore, he scored a career-best 38 goals and 100 points and led the Wildcats to a state championship.

Sam McKelvey (D, 6-0, 175 lbs., Davidsonville, Md./South River) McKelvey was the winner of the prestigious 4A/3A C. Markland Kelly Award after a brilliant senior campaign. The close defender was selected First-Team All-Metro (Washington Post) and First-Team All-County and Second-Team All-Metro by The Baltimore Sun.  He also earned First-Team Mid-Atlantic/South honors by U.S. Lacrosse and earned a 4A/3A state title with the Seahawks last spring.

Ethan Murphy (D, 6-0, 180 lbs., West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca East) During his prep career, Murphy had 514 groundballs, 27 goals, and 13 assists. He earned All-America honors as a senior for the New York-Buffalo region. Murphy was named West Seneca’s Male Athlete of the Year, by the West Seneca Bee and was a two-time First-Team All-Western New York honoree.

Joey Placek (M/A, 5-10, 170 lbs., Laurel, Md./Atholton) Placek was named the Raiders’ Most Valuable Player as a senior. He earned All-County honors in both 2007 and 2009 and served as the team captain last spring. Placek scored a career-high eight goals and added four assists in an overtime win over rival Hammond in his sophomore campaign.

Tony Spada (M, 5-11, 165 lbs, Kingston, N.Y./Saugerties) Spada is a two-time U.S. Lacrosse All-American from the New York-Mid-Hudson region. He was the first junior in New York state Section 9 history to be named an All-American. Spada was a three-time Section 9 First-Team midfielder and was the 2009 Times Herald Record Lacrosse Player-of-the-Year. His Saugerties teams have won six consecutive Section 9 championships.

David Stock (Jr., D, 6-0, 175 lbs., Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township/CCBC –Essex) At CCBC-Essex, Stock was named First-Team All-American by the NJCAA. He also earned Region XX Most Valuable Defensive Player in 2009. Stock was named to First-Team All-Region and to the First-Team All-Maryland JUCO squad.  He was selected First-Team All-League, and was an All-District defenseman while at Manheim Township.

Lucas Wood (D, 6-2, 185 lbs., Columbus, Ohio/Worthington-Kilbourne)  Wood was a three-time First Team All-Region selection and was named to First-Team All-OCC. He also earned First-Team All-Midwest and Second-Team All-Ohio honors in 2009. He helped the Wolves win a state championship as a last spring. Wood also captured the school’s Gold Key Award winner, which is given to a student for having a 3.5 grade-point average through the senior year.

Jake Zimmerman (5-11, 170 lbs., Baltimore, Md./Boys’ Latin)  Zimmerman received the Jack Williams Cup for Sportsmanship in his senior year with the Lakers. The son of UMBC head coach Don Zimmerman, Jake also earned the captain’s award for varsity lacrosse. He also lettered in football for Boys’ Latin and earned academic honor roll recognition during the 2008-09 academic year.

Fall Sports:

Men’s Soccer-
MVP: Andrew Bulls (8 goals, 2 assists)
Freshman of the Year: Andrew Bulls (8 goals,, 2 assists)

Women’s Soccer-
MVP: Morgan Warrington (5 Goals, 1 assist)
Freshman of the Year: Mo Van Vlerah (35 saves, 67.3%)

Volleyball-
MVP: Alyssa Lang (319 kills, 317 digs)
Freshman of the Year: Alyssa Lang (319 kills, 317 digs)

Men’s Cross Country-
MVP: Paul Zwama

Women’s Cross Country-
MVP: Sara Parkinson

Winter Sports:

Men’s Basketball-
MVP: Darryl Proctor (20.0ppg, 8.8rpg, 46.7 FG%)
Freshman of the Year: Chauncey Gilliam (10.9ppg, 4.4rpg, 51.4 FG%)

Women’s Basketball-
MVP: Carlee Cassidy (20.4ppg, 35.8 FG%, 32.1 3-pt%)
Freshman of the Year: Michelle Kurowski (13.7ppg, 4.6rpg, 40.6 FG%)

Men’s Swimming and Diving-
MVP: Justin Bronson

Women’s Swimming and Diving-
MVP: Samantha Maccherola

Men’s Indoor Track and Field-
MVP: Adrian Arthur

Women’s Track and Field-
MVP: Imani Colbert

Spring Sports:

Men’s Lacrosse-
MVP: Jeremy Blevins (151 saves, 54.5%)
Freshman of the Year: Rob Grimm (10 goals, 17 assists, 18 ground balls)

Women’s Lacrosse-
MVP: Kara Dorr (40 goals, 10 assists, 26 ground balls)
Freshman of the Year: Emily Coady (22 goals, 13 assists, 11 ground balls)

Baseball-
MVP: Shawn Retz (.380, 60 hits, 27 runs, .627 Slg%, 9 Home runs)
Freshman of the Year: Max Himmelstein (.303, 40 hits, 18 runs, .432 Slg%, 3 Home runs)

Softball-
MVP: Stephanie Weigman (2.20 ERA, 22-16, 245.0 Innings Pitched, 293 strikeouts)
Freshman of the Year: Keala Mason (.255, 13 hits, 5 runs, .353 SLG%, 1 HR)

Men’s Indoor Track and Field-
MVP: Victor Gilreath

Women’s Track and Field-
MVP: Britney Foreman

Men’s Tennis-
MVP: Fredi Voorman

Women’s Tennis-
MVP: Cornelia Carapcea

Final Awards

Men’s POY: Darryl Proctor
Women’s POY: Stephanie Weigman

Men’s ROY: Andrew Bulls
Women’s ROY: Michelle Kurowski

The men’s lacrosse team gave a valiant effort in the NCAA tournament, but sometimes a valiant effort is not enough. The men’s lacrosse team gave North Carolina a fit in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They were leading for the majority of the first period but a four goal run put UMBC down by three goals early in the second quarter. But UMMBC did not back down. They put together a six goal run to go up 9-6 just after the half.

But with 4:30 left in the third quarter, North Carolina grabbed the lead for good, but UMBC still did not back down. However it was not enough as they lost 15-13 in an expected high scoring battle.

The problem was UMBC could not find an answer for Billy Bitter. He scored eight goals of nine shots and had an assist. Other than Bitter, only four Tar Heels scored and only Bart Wagner recorded a multi-goal game.

Bitter has been praised as one of the top attacks in the country and showed why against UMBC. Despite great net play by Jeremy Blevins, who recorded 12 saves, and solid defense by Steve Settembrino, Kevin Goedeke, and Matt Kresse, he found a way to score and as the saying goes, “when you’re hot you’re hot,” and Bitter was hot.

With the season at an end there is still a lot to be excited about for next season. While UMBC does lose the most successful senior class in UMBC history, as the four year seniors are the only class to make it to the NCAA tournament all four years, the progression of the younger players is something to look forward too. Justin Radebaugh struggled at face-offs this year, but coach Don Zimmerman gave him the full time job and he will be better for it. Freshman very rarely are the full time face-off man on a lacrosse team, but Radebaugh took nearly every face-off since being names the face-off man before they played Maryland.

Aside from Radebaugh the progression of attacks Rob Grimm and Bobby Stockton leave cause for excitement in the future. Grimm was expected to be a key contributor as a freshman but seeing the progression Stockton made from last year to this year is impressive.

The young guys are going to have their hands full setting in for the current senior class. Hopmann lead the team in goals this year and became UMBC’s all time leading scorer. As the year moved on he got better and really became the anchor of the UMBC offense. Other seniors include Ryan Smith, who after suffering a slow start while coming back from an ACL tear a year ago still managed to score 24 goals on the season. Kevin Goedeke and Steve Settembrino have been great surprised this year on defense for the retrievers. Goedeke did not start the season but he battled back and earned his starting job back. Settembrino however is a great story. He spent his previous three seasons as purely a man who came in for man down situations, but after impressing Zimmerman after an injury to Bobby Atwell, Settembrino earned the starting sport and was the only retriever to start every game on defense this year.

The big addition for UMBC this year will be a short lived one. Poillon transferred from Ohio State in the off-season and immediately made his impact. He led UMBC with 45 points after taking over in the center midfield this season.

The big loss however will be Blevins. He has been a two time Tewarrton player of the year finalist and won the America East Conference Player of the year award this year after a phenomenal season in goal for UMBC. Blevins graduates as the winningest active goalie in the nation and arguably the best in UMBC history.

It will be a struggle to find guys to fill their spots next year, but Zimmerman is one of the best coaches in the nation for a reason and he gives opponents something to worry about every season.

This is a much better draw than I thought UMBC would get. I really thought UMBC would face Duke in the first round but this is a much better match up. North Carolina is team that revolves around their attacks to score points. Their midfield sets up the attacks and the defense is good but still allows a decent amount of goals.

UMBC however has the most productive midfield in the nation and has an attack hitting their stride at the perfect time. The defense could use improvement but Jeremy Blevins has been money in the net all season and his entire career as he is the winningest goalie in college lacrosse right now.

The worry is depth and face-offs. North Carolina has the big advantage in both aspects of the game.

Here’s the cool story line though. North Carolina made a coaching change in the off-season. Their top candidate was Don Zimmerman who rejected the offer to stay at UMBC. They later announced Joe Breschi to be the coach. Breschi was formerly the coach at Ohio State and when he left Peet Poillon transferred from Ohio State to UMBC.

Overall it’s going to be a challenge for UMBC, but the the retrievers are on they can beat anybody they play. The only thing is they haven’t been playing great lacrosse lately. If they ride the momentum of their three game winning streak they could be problems for the tarheels but if they play like they did against Hartford and Binghamton and stony brook in the fourth quarter is could be an early exit.

The game will be on May 9 at 2:30 on ESPN U.

The men’s lacrosse team took away all doubts about whether they could make the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid with a dominating win over Stony Brook in the America East Conference championship game, 11-7.

The score was not indicative of how much better UMBC played that the Seawolves. UMBC at one point lead the game 9-2 before Stony Brook ended the game outscoring UMBC 5-2 to close the margin, but it was not enough as UMBC was handed the championship trophy for the second straight season sending them to their fourth straight NCAA tournament.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a team as focused as we were tonight,” said Coach Don Zimmerman. “Right from the start with the opening face-off [we were focused]. We were dominate on ground balls and the entire team pitched in and that’s what it’s all about.”

UMBC was shaky going into the finals as they barely eked by three win Binghamton in the semi-finals. As was the story last year, UMBC was taken to overtime by the bearcats and were being outplayed until Ryan Smith scored the game winner. He scored from the same spot right in front of the goal in both games to send UMBC to the conference finals.

“We just set up a play and we executed it and it turned out well for us,” Smith said. “We set up a pick from behind the net and nobody expected us to pass the ball and I got it and came around and took the shot.”

Stony Brook however was coming off a dominating victory over Albany for the second time in as many games and were scoring goals at will. They got the quick lead on UMBC just two minutes in as Kevin Crowley scored his first of four goals, but UMBC responded right away as Kyle Wimer found Mike Camardo off a face-off for the rare long stick goal.

“One of their guys slide up the field and Wimer has great vision and saw me up the field and hi me on the inside for the shot,” Camardo said.

Camardo had a great two games, great enough to be named the most outstanding player of the America East Conference tournament. He scrapped on face-off’s, played great defense causing four turnovers, and scored a goal in each game.

A few minutes after Camardo tied the game, Tom Compitello got the lead back for Stony Brook but that was the last time they would see it as UMBC went on an eight goal run, holding Stony Brook scoreless for 36 minutes.

Matt Latham lead the team with five goals in the two games, including a hat-trick in the finals while Ryan Smith played his first full championship game also recorded three goals. Last year Smith went down in the opening minutes with a torn ACL and missed the rest of the season.

“I was just excited to make it through 1:17,” he said. “A couple guys were like it’s the anniversary and it made me think about it but the knee is strong and feels good.”

Alex Hopmann has a knack for making a splash in big games. He recorded two goals and three assists for five points in the game, mirroring him performance in last season’s championship game. Hopmann has scored at least two goals in each championship game he has played in over his four year career and has accumulated 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in the conference championship games.

With th win UMBC has officially punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season and will find out who they play tomorrow night after the selection show

Probable Starters

UMBC (11-3, 4-1):

A- Ryan Smith (18 goals, 7 assists, 16 ground balls)
A- Chris Jones (18 goals, 7 assists, 21 ground balls)
A- Matt Latham (22 goals, 5 assists, 28 ground balls)
M- Alex Hopmann (31 goals, 4 assists, 18 ground balls)
M- Peet Poillon (25 goals, 19 assists, 17 ground balls)
M- Kyle Wimer (21 goals, 6 assists, 36 ground balls)
D- Steve Settembrino (15 ground balls, 7 caused turnovers)
D- Matt Kresse (10 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)
D- Kevin Goedeke (11 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)
GK- Jeremy Blevins (133 saves, 56.1%)
FO- Justin Radebaugh (101- of- 205, 49.3%, 50 ground balls)

Key Reserves:

A- Rob Grimm (9 goals, 16 assists, 16 ground balls)
A- Bobby Stockton (4 goals, 2 assists, 3 ground balls)
A- Eric Gurnsey (4 goals, 0 assists, 3 ground balls)
M- Jamie Kimbles (5 goals, 3 assists, 16 ground balls)
M- Rich May (2 goals, 3 assists, 2 ground balls)
M- Maxx Davis (1 goal, 1 assists, 4 ground balls)
SSM- Jordan Pierce (3 goals, 3 assists, 14 ground balls)
SSM- Mike Bryan (17 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)
LSM- Mike Camardo (46 ground balls, 28 caused turnovers)

Stony Brook (9-5, 4-1):

A- Jordan McBride (42 goals, 8 assists, 22 ground balls)
A- Kyle Belton (18 goals, 4 assists, 11 ground balls)
A- Tom Campitello (12 goals, 24 assists, 22 ground balls)
M- Timmy Trenkle (16 goals, 5 assists, 18 ground balls)
M- Kevin Crowley (24 goals, 23 assists, 56 ground balls)
M- Robbie Campbell (19 goals, 11 assists, 9 ground balls)
D- Chris Gignilliat (16 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers)
D- Steven Waldeck (5 goals, 5 assists, 91 ground balls, 20 caused turnovers)
D- Nick Maturro (18 ground balls, 6 caused turnovers)
GK- Rob Camposa (8 ground balls, 1 caused tunrover)
FO-Adam Rand (211-of-328, 64.3%, 64 ground balls)

Key Reserves:

A- Chris Scott (7 goals, 5 assists, 6 ground balls)
M- Jack Hewitt (5 goals, 3 assists, 8 ground balls)
M- Jared LeVerne (4 goals, 1 assists, 33 ground balls)
M- Vonzel LeGall (1 goal, 1 assists, 10 ground balls)
LSM- Taylor Eason (16 ground balls, 6 caused turnovers)
D- Michael Sopko (18 ground balls, 6 caused turnovers)
D- Greg Miceli (16 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)

This is a must win game for both teams. Stony Brook has no chance to make the NCAA tournament without winning the conference and UMBC has a very little chance of making it in without it. This is a very interesting game and scary game for UMBC. They haven’t been playing their best lacrosse lately as the lost to Hartford a few weeks back and probably should have lost to Binghamton in the Semi-finals. Stony Brook however has been playing solid lacrosse, and the one thing about Stony Brook is they can score. UMBC and Stony Brook are one and two in just about every stat catagory in the conference. But the one thing UMBC really excels at is Man-up scoring. UMBC has scored 25 times in man up attempts while Stony Brook has only scored seven times. Stony Brook also turns the ball over the most in the conference. The saving grace for UMBC is their defense and goal keeper, all-everything Jeremy Blevins. Without Blevins the team could have been in big trouble this year. But with him UMBC leads the conference is shutouts, goals against, and save percentage.

Here’s where UMBC may be in trouble. Besides the fact that they have been playing bad lacrosse and Stony Brook has been playing great lacrosse, UMBC is last in the conference and second to last in the nation in face-off percentage and Stony Brook is top in the conference in that category. It could get dicey for UMBC, mostly because of Stony Brooks’ ability to score. UMBC was once thought to be the deepest team in the conference but right now that depth is playing but hasn’t had much impact scoring wise. Rob Grimm leads the bench in points but after him Jamie Kimbles has produced just five goals in 14 games.

The questions is can UMBC overcome their poor lacrosse and will those guys who have the big game experience step it up and get UMBC into the NCAA tournament, or will Stony Brooks’ high powered offense be too much for the retrievers and cause UMBC to miss their first tournament in four years?

Usually when you think of a player of the year you think of offensive players and who scored the most, but senior goalkeeper Jeremy Blevins’ 133 saves and 56.1 save% impressed some coaches as he was named the America East Player of the Year as the second straight Retriever to get the award and fourth in five years.

As usual UMBC dominated the post season awards. Blevins was joined on the first team all-conference by four other retrievers. Midfielders Peet Poillon (25 goals, 19 assists) and Kyle Wimer (21 goals, 15 assists) joined him along with defender Kevin Goedeke and short stick midfielder Jordan Pierce.

Poillon and Wimer teamed up for 2/3 of the best midfield in the conference. They were one and two on the team in points and fourth and eight in the conference in points per game, respectively. Goedeke is a good story though. He started every game last season but lost the starting job at the beginning of the year and did not start the first four games of the season. After battling back and showing a great effort in practice, Goedeke earned his starting spot back and locked down on the teams best offensive player each game. Jordan Pierce has been commented all year by Zimmerman and earned a lot of playing time for his scrappiness. He recorded six goals with three assists with 14 ground balls and solid defense off the bench and on the face-off unit.

While Poillon and Wimer were named to the first team all-conference, the final part of the midfield, Alex Hopmann, was named to the all-America East second team. He lead the team with 31 goals and was third on the team in points with 35. Ryan Smith and Matt Latham were on the first and second team all-conference last season, respectively, and were both named to the second team this year. Latham was fourth on the team in both goals (22) and points (27) with 28 ground balls. Smith struggled early after coming back from an ACL tear but still manged 18 goals, and seven assists after starting every game this season. The fourth member on the second team was Matt Kresse. Like Goedeke, Kresse did not start every game this year, but he lost his job mid way through the season but battled back to retake it and locked down on attacks.

Rob Grimm was honored to the All-Rookie team after playing ever game and recording eight goals with 15 assists.

The final award went to coach Don Zimmerman. He repeated as coach of the year after winning the conference again and won his third award in four years. UMBC won the regular season conference championship all three times.

It was déjà vu all over again for the men’s lacrosse team. Last year in the semi-final game of the conference tournament against Binghamton, Ryan Smith made an overtime shot to send UMBC to the conference finals. This year’s ending was no different. Smith made a shot 55-seconds into the second overtime against Binghamton to advance UMBC into the conference finals by a score of 9-8.

“We just set up a play and we executed it and it turned out well for us,” Smith said. “We set up a pick from behind the net and nobody expected us to pass the ball and I got it and came around and took the shot.”

Every time Binghamton travels south to Baltimore they always give UMBC a run for their money. It is the third straight year UMBC has played an over time game with Binghamton, two of them being double overtime games.

“They are very well coached. They are scrappy and they play to the personality of their coach,” coach Don Zimmerman said praising Ed Stephenson of Binghamton. “No matter what happens in the regular season, when there is a matchup between UMBC and Binghamton in the tournament, you know it’s going to be a tough ball game.”

UMBC looked to have the game in the bag with an early 6-2 lead, but the game took a 180 after UMBC’s sixth goal as Binghamton went on a 6-2 run to end regulation. The key moment for Binghamton was with 2:31 left in the fourth quarter when Jeremy Blevins saved a Steve Carlson shot. However, he lost possession and when he attempted to get the ball back on the side of the net Andy Cook got the ball and dove to score in an open net with a backhanded shot to tie the game at seven.

“I made the first save and brought the stick up to throw it. I don’t know if I hit the ball, or the goal, or the ball fell out of my sick, or I got a check. I don’t know what happened but it just came out of my stick so I went down to get it and I thought I got pushed from behind, but he was able to get the ball and scored,” Blevins said.

Alex Hopmann made an effort to get the game winner with a goal 31 seconds later but with less than a minute left Cook struck again for his third goal to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Midway through the first overtime Blevins made the save of his career as a wide open Jake Boyce took a point blank shot high at the goal that looked for sure to be the game winner, but Blevins made the miraculous save to extend the game.

“He really didn’t have much angle so I just held my ground and waited for him to shoot it,” Blevins said. “I expected him to go high because I usually wait for the first fake but he never faked and just kept the stick high so I stayed high.”

While UMBC has made a living this year off an explosive midfield, only Hopmann had a goal while Kyle Wimer and Peet Poillon were kept quite, raising concern for Zimmerman to get them back playing as the “50-midfield.”

“When you add the number nine for Alex Hopmann, 20 for Kyle Wimer and 21 for Peet Poillon it adds us to 50 and that’s the ’50-midfield,’ and they didn’t play like the 50-midfield,’ they played like number nine, number 20, and number 21, so we have to get back to playing ’50-midfield,’” Zimmerman said.

With the midfield shut down the attacks took control of the game. Chris Jones tied his career high in goals with three in the first half while Matt Latham scored two, Rob Grimm recorded one, and Smith recorded the most important goal- the game winner.

For the fourth straight season UMBC will be going to the conference championship as they host the second seeded Stony Brook on Saturday at 7:30pm in a game they must win if they want to get into the NCAA tournament for a fourth straight season.

Probable Starters

UMBC (10-3, 4-1):
A- Ryan Smith (17 goals, 6 assists, 15 ground balls)
A- Chris Jones (15 goals, 7 assists, 19 ground balls)
A- Matt Latham (20 goals, 5 assists, 27 ground balls)
M- Alex Hopmann (30 goals, 4 assists, 16 ground balls)
M- Peet Poillon (25 goals, 17 assists, 13 ground balls)
M- Kyle Wimer (21 goals, 15 assists, 35 ground balls)
D- Matt Kresse (8 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers)
D- Kevin Goedeke (11 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)
D- Steve Settembrino (14 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)
GK- Jeremy Blevins (124 saves, 56.4%)
FO- Justin Redebaugh (87-of-183, 47.5%)

Key Reserves:
A- Rob Grimm (8 goals, 16 assists, 14 ground balls)
A- Bobby Stockton (4 goals, 2 assists, 3 ground balls)
M- Jordan Pierce (3 goals, 3 assists, 13 ground balls)
M- Jamie Kimbles (5 goals, 3 assists, 3 ground balls)
LSM- Michael Camardo (40 ground balls, 26 caused turnovers)
SSM- Mike Bryan (16 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers)

Binghamton (3-11, 2-3)
A- Andy Cook (16 goals, 10 assists, 16 ground balls)
A- Jake Boyce (13 goals, 5 assists, 8 ground balls)
A- Chris Mulheron (4 goals, 11 assists, 3 ground balls)
M- Kevin Joy (5 goals, 4 assists, 8 ground balls)
M- Steven Carlson (17 goals, 2 assists, 7 ground balls)
M- Duncan Streeten (9 goals, 2 assists, 3 ground balls)
D- Griffin McLoughlin (18 ground balls, 6 caused turnovers)
D- Chris Winter (48 ground balls, 27 caused turnovers)
D- Derrick Danieu (21 ground balls, 5 caused turnovers)
GK- Larry Kline (144, 48.9%)
FO- J.P. Wioncek (120-of-263, 45.6%)

Key Reserves:
A- Frank Donlon (9 goals, 1 assist, 22 ground balls)
A-Jonny Baron (7 goals, 0 assists, 10 ground balls)
LSM- Ben Waldron (41 ground balls, 9 caused turnovers)

The semi-finals. UMBC has to win the conference tournament to get in the NCAA tournament. With Albany’s loss to Stony Brook, UMBC’s strength of schedule went way down and with their lost to Hartford they have a bad loss on there record. UMBC is very capable of beating Binghamton. They did last year as Binghamton is usually the fourth team in the tournament with a bad record. As long as they don’t get off to a slow start like they did last year they should be fine.